Nice Dreamcast purchase!

Sooty

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Edited By Sooty

After scanning eBay for a short while I managed to find a Dreamcast that was said to be in excellent condition so I took the plunge and bought it.

Ended up paying around £20 which wasn't too bad, it came with 3 games, 2 memory cards and the cables. (composite video instead of aerial lead was a nice bonus)

When it turned up the next week it was just in a standard cardboard box with padding inside, didn't know it wasn't gonna have the official box but wasn't really bothered.

I hooked it up in a temporary position to do some testing next.

Had a bit of a surprise when I turned it on, the LED was blue instead of orange so I had a look online to see if my memory was failing me but nope it wasn't. As I thought Dreamcasts have orange power lights across all regions so I'm pretty sure this machine was modded, I don't mind because it looks damn nice!

Now for some game, controller and memory unit testing.

Great news! MSR booted up successfully and went on to play perfectly. I was really pleased with how the system looked on my TV too, I have a 42" HDTV (Plasma) and wasn't expecting it to look good at all but it actually looks damn impressive for composite. I'll be buying an RGB scart cable for it soon and hopefully a VGA box in the future so it will look much, much better when I get ahold of those.

It actually looks on par with the quality of my PS2 connected to the same screen but via component which is surprising, my Dreamcast also doesn't require any zooming in and fills the screen completely which is great. When using my PS2 I have to make use of zooming options in order for the game to fill the screen up without black bars showing up somewhere.

The controller is a little bit tatty but looks nicer now after a clean, same with the VMUs but they both work fine and have no damage to the screens.
I'm not really too fussed over the controller being a bit tatty though because I can buy a brand new and sealed one for £6. (700+ in stock on eBay)

My games so far, not much of a collection but only just started really. DS randomly in the shot too.

Virtua Tennis 2, Virtua Fighter 3 and MSR all came with the Dreamcast itself, they are quite tatty but the cases aren't cracked at least. Sonic Adventure I bought separately and it's in good condition, a few marks on the case but no scratches anywhere or cracks.

I was more worried about the Dreamcast not being in good condition but I was really pleased when I got it. It's in great condition with no marks on it anywhere, I did give it a bit of a polish and clean after I unpacked it and afterwards it was spotless. Controllers and VMUs are easily replaced and very cheap to buy new these days so they were an afterthought!

All in all pretty pleased with the purchase, just need to be on the lookout for some deals now to kick start this collection.

13 years ago

Sooty

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#1 Edited By Sooty

After scanning eBay for a short while I managed to find a Dreamcast that was said to be in excellent condition so I took the plunge and bought it.

Ended up paying around £20 which wasn't too bad, it came with 3 games, 2 memory cards and the cables. (composite video instead of aerial lead was a nice bonus)

When it turned up the next week it was just in a standard cardboard box with padding inside, didn't know it wasn't gonna have the official box but wasn't really bothered.

I hooked it up in a temporary position to do some testing next.

Had a bit of a surprise when I turned it on, the LED was blue instead of orange so I had a look online to see if my memory was failing me but nope it wasn't. As I thought Dreamcasts have orange power lights across all regions so I'm pretty sure this machine was modded, I don't mind because it looks damn nice!

Now for some game, controller and memory unit testing.

Great news! MSR booted up successfully and went on to play perfectly. I was really pleased with how the system looked on my TV too, I have a 42" HDTV (Plasma) and wasn't expecting it to look good at all but it actually looks damn impressive for composite. I'll be buying an RGB scart cable for it soon and hopefully a VGA box in the future so it will look much, much better when I get ahold of those.

It actually looks on par with the quality of my PS2 connected to the same screen but via component which is surprising, my Dreamcast also doesn't require any zooming in and fills the screen completely which is great. When using my PS2 I have to make use of zooming options in order for the game to fill the screen up without black bars showing up somewhere.

The controller is a little bit tatty but looks nicer now after a clean, same with the VMUs but they both work fine and have no damage to the screens.
I'm not really too fussed over the controller being a bit tatty though because I can buy a brand new and sealed one for £6. (700+ in stock on eBay)

My games so far, not much of a collection but only just started really. DS randomly in the shot too.

Virtua Tennis 2, Virtua Fighter 3 and MSR all came with the Dreamcast itself, they are quite tatty but the cases aren't cracked at least. Sonic Adventure I bought separately and it's in good condition, a few marks on the case but no scratches anywhere or cracks.

I was more worried about the Dreamcast not being in good condition but I was really pleased when I got it. It's in great condition with no marks on it anywhere, I did give it a bit of a polish and clean after I unpacked it and afterwards it was spotless. Controllers and VMUs are easily replaced and very cheap to buy new these days so they were an afterthought!

All in all pretty pleased with the purchase, just need to be on the lookout for some deals now to kick start this collection.

13 years ago

David

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#2 Edited By David

Great purchase! I recommend you buy Shenmue and Shenmue II!
Just be aware that then you'll eternally be waiting for Shenmue III like so many others.

13 years ago

Romination

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#3 Edited By Romination

DUDE AWESOME GO BUY TYPING OF THE DEAD NOW

13 years ago

Linkyshinks

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#4 Edited By Linkyshinks

It may seem to work fine now, but DC's have a number of running issues that can pop up out of nowhere, especially with second hand machines. The best thing to do with any old DC is to open up the casing and perform some minor maintenance work. Removing all dust, cutting the plastic sheeting around the power module to help air flow, oiling the guide rails on the laser module with a cotton bud, disconnecting the PS connector from the board and cleaning it using rubbing alcohol, checking if the aperture setting on the laser is within normal levels. (- there are some who will tweak it to a fastest setting when they sell on a dodgy Dreamcast, in order to make it seem like it's reading discs normally, such DC's wont last very long at all, the motor claps out fast or the disc reading issues make it impossible to play games.

It's all very easy to do, there are some guides on Youtube that should help you.

The DC is very badly designed in terms of it's internal layout, and that plastic sheeting seen below is a big part of the problem, it helps to trap heat which warps components. (DC's fan is terrible is expelling heat, the console also has a measly amount of vent holes)

A few snips like so will make a big difference and prolong your consoles life:

13 years ago

Sooty

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#5 Edited By Sooty

@Romination said:

" DUDE AWESOME GO BUY TYPING OF THE DEAD NOW "

It's on the list along with a keyboard. :D

@David said:

" Great purchase! I recommend you buy Shenmue and Shenmue II! Just be aware that then you'll eternally be waiting for Shenmue III like so many others. "

I am totally buying those but I've already completed the first once and the second twice! Great games and I have been awaiting Shenmue III ever since I finished the second game almost 10 years ago. :(

@Linkyshinks:
Thanks for that a nice read, I will definitely look into this. I never thought about the console dying on me because it feels so recent yet this machine was probably produced at a factory 10-12 years ago! Pretty weird.

My first Dreamcast I got shortly after launch developed a fault, it was resetting itself every so often which was incredibly annoying! It added some extra suspense to playing Shenmue II though heh.

Anyhow I am gonna open it up in a bit and have a peek inside and I will remove some dust. I'll have to leave the more indepth stuff until tomorrow as I'm a bit tired now but thanks a lot for the heads up.

13 years ago

Linkyshinks

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#6 Edited By Linkyshinks

That resetting problem can be easily solved with dental floss wrapped around the tiny lever that touches the lid.

Take off the screws, place the top half behind the bottom half of console - use the top half as a platform to rest the laser module on top of once you un-clip it, after lifting the wire under the tab of the side of it.... It'll make perfect sense once you open it up :)

13 years ago

Romination

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#7 Edited By Romination

@Ygg: my girlfriend got it for me. it's swell'

@Linkyshinks:
Dude, really? I gotta pop mine open then... But if I hurt my Dreamcast I'll never forgive myself!

13 years ago